Europe's Bad Boys
Must Get Clubbable

By

patience Wheatcroft

Updated Oct. 19, 2010 12:01 am ET

If members of a club persistently flout the rules, they generally risk expulsion. For the euro-zone club, though, such a grave sanction appears to be unthinkable. The president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, endeavouring to devise punishments that might encourage members of his club to change their habits and abide by the strictures on deficits and spending levels, suggested a proxy for temporary expulsion, a suspension of voting rights. That idea was vetoed as too difficult, since opponents argued it would require a treaty change.